May 7 (Bloomberg) -- CSM NV, the world’s biggest maker of
bakery ingredients, rose the most in more than 22 years after
saying it will sell U.S. and European bakery-supply units to
fund the Purac and Caravan bio-based ingredients brands’ growth.

CSM jumped as much as 32 percent to 14.45 euros, the
biggest intraday gain since at least Oct. 3, 1989, and traded up
22 percent at 10:56 a.m. in Amsterdam, valuing the Diemen,
Netherlands-based company at 939 million euros ($1.22 billion).

CSM, which has been struggling with weakening consumer
demand and rising costs of raw materials, said in October that
it would implement a 50 million-euro reorganization as earnings
were missing targets. The bakery-supply units’ first-quarter
earnings before interest, taxes, amortization and one-time gains
or costs fell 28 percent, slower than the 19 percent earnings
decline for Purac.

“The divestment is a major announcement for CSM, one that
was eventually expected, but clearly not this quickly,” Richard
Withagen, an Amsterdam-based analyst at SNS Securities, said in
a note today. The proceeds of the divestment could be as much as
1.7 billion euros, Withagen said, who has an “accumulate” on
the stock.

CSM said it also plans to use proceeds to reduce debt and
may return some of the money to shareholders.